In February 2019, Kim Kardashian took to Twitter to express her disapproval for an online fashion company that is known to sell knockoff designer clothing. She complained that she had worn a one-of-a-kind dress, and in less than 24 hours a website had stolen her look and sold it online. The internet felt the shock waves of a fashionista dismayed. While her issue with this process is rooted in designer disrespect, it raises alarming questions: Exactly how do these fashion companies do it so fast, and why is their product so affordable?
If you’re like me, it’s possible some of your best outfits have come from mall stores like H&M, Forever 21, Zara, UNIQLO and so on. If you’re even a little like me, it’s likely you prefer to spend less money shopping for trendy clothes. You can find many fully online stores selling articles of clothing for as little as a few cents. What is going on, and why do my orders take months to arrive on my doorstep? Allow me to introduce you to one of the world’s biggest problems today: fast fashion.
Consumers of these companies may notice that the quality of product is rather poor, inviting a one-wear approach. Fast fashion companies thrive off of cheap textile production on a mass scale, mostly outsourced from China and India. These inexpensive materials include mostly synthetic polyester (the least expensive textile to produce), cotton, elastane, viscose and nylon. Pushing trendy products utilizing a quick output model comes at a great ethical cost. Not only is the quality and re-wearability of clothing sacrificed, but so is public health.
